Accomplish in the Future

This month's Round Robin is about things you want to accomplish. Do you have a bucket list? 

I don't, not exactly, although there are some places I'd still like to visit like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and the Louvre in Paris; but I would hate the plane ride over and back, so the journeys are unlikely. I'd like to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Field Museum in Chicago again. They are both close enough to drive and perhaps share with grandkids. We'd visit in the spring or fall because I hate leaving my garden in summer. The growing season is much too short here in Northern Michigan. One of the main reasons I don’t like traveling is I am most comfortable in my own house and surroundings. I do, however, have things I want to accomplish. I like creating 'things.'

About thirty plots and character lists are sitting in a file on my computer. I was going great guns until writing helped me get a great part-time job and slowed down my production. I've been working on two books for the last six months, one of which every time I write a few paragraphs I have to recheck my research or do more research. I'd really like to finish those two stories and move on to the ones waiting in that file. There is a problem there, too, as new stories and different characters keep invading my mind, and while writing this and other blog posts provide good promotion and allow me personal expression, it takes time away from fiction writing.

I also have a quilt and some other needlework pieces that if I don't finish soon, the fabric and threads will start disintegrating from age. That is just one of my hobbies, although after the break I have had from picking up a needle, I don’t know if it falls into the ‘hobby’ category any longer. I also like to draw, paint, do calligraphy, make pin dolls, and bake bread. (I finally found a Russian Black Bread recipe that tastes like I remember from the defunct Pretzel Bell Restaurant!) I do a lot of Zen doodling (Pinterest)  when I don’t have a book to read at night. Painted faux finishes in marble, leather, water, adobe, and other murals cover the walls of my house. The photo below shows one of my pastimes (see pin dolls for other designs). Reading falls in here, too, but I’ve covered that topic in a recent post. Yet, I often feel guilty devoting time to these activities, and I am not sure why. Maybe because I consider them just putzing around.

Angel Pin

My writing and my hobbies are my bucket list I guess. These things I want to finish and then continue with more new writing and craft projects. That said there are a few important events I want to witness: the graduation of my three grandchildren, and I'd like to share more time with my family, although they claim my visits too short. I suppose they are but feel that no one wants to outwear their welcome, especially me.

So there it is, not quite a bucket list — just a continuation. What objectives are on your bucket or still to-do list?

Be sure to check the blogs of the following authors who are also blogging on bucket lists and future accomplishments:

Skye Taylor 
Fiona McGier
Marci Baun 
Diane Bator
Victoria Chatham
Anne Stenhouse 
Beverley Bateman
A.J. Maguire 
Rachael Kosnski
Geeta Kakade
Kay Sisk
Connie Vines
Judith Copek